There’s no safety in numbers on Australian breakfast radio
By Susanna Nelson
Marieke Hardy
The doyenne of DIY pop culture, Melbourne journalist and blogger Marieke Hardy recently gathered up her books and laptop and took off to Sydney to assume a post on national youth network Triple J’s breakfast show alongside two station stalwarts, like Myf Warhurst before her.
I can’t help but feel dismayed by her decision to throw herself into the often undignified maelstrom of breakfast radio.
Part of the problem is with the station itself. Though it grew out of radical, government-owned 1970s Sydney station 2JJ, it has since gone national and come under attack for its highly structured, youth-focused programming. In other words, it is renowned for flogging songs to death. What’s more, the narrow demographic it so self-consciously pursues makes anyone over the age of 20 squirm with discomfort at all the shouty youth references and the My Chemical Romance tracks on high rotation – it tries painfully hard to be ‘down with the kids’.
The other problem is the modern Australian breakfast radio format. It’s depressing to think that this was the result of comprehensive market research. One imagines it must be a very small demographic group indeed that confesses to enjoying inane patter, scripted and unfunny jokes, infomercials, celebrity gossip, Beat the Bomb competitions and the anecdotes of John from Bundoora as the first thing they hear upon waking for the daily grind.
The ratings don’t bear this out. The fact is, this formula is globally recognised as a winner. Radio is a welcome burr of background noise to many of us inhabitants of the modern world, who are so assaulted with sound and vision at every turn we actually can’t cope with silence. Being alive is to be crash-tackled by stimuli. Small wonder so many people choose to wake to the bustle of breakfast radio – start as you mean to go on, and all that.
Some stations are better than others. Community radio station PBS fm in Melbourne wakes the listener gently with an intelligent mix of new independent music chosen by charming hosts and old mates, Todd James and Lyndelle Wilkinson. It’s amazing what a difference true independence makes. Like fellow Melbourne community broadcaster RRR, PBS was a phoenix from the ashes of student radio in the 1970s, and prides itself on giving its announcers free rein.
Just this week, the summer substitute breakfast host ended his two week stint. He had never done even an intern or graveyard shift and no-one knew who he was. But he brought in his record collection and his unstoppable enthusiasm for everything from the Runaways to Chicago and let rip. It was joyous – and it would never happen on the commercial networks or Triple J, which rely on ‘personalities’, slick scripting and a rigid play list.
For those who don’t want to wake up to music, over on ABC Radio National, sole host Fran Kelly gets her teeth into the issues we should all be thinking about.
The common denominator seems to be that these shows are about something bigger than the egos of the hosts themselves – something unifying and interesting.
But there’s a certain configuration of breakfast show, hugely popular in Australia, that is impossible to abide. It’s characterised by what I call ‘the pack of comics’, and it’s actually worse than the familiar ‘Battle of the Sexes’ duo schtick – think Kyle and Jackie O – of most commercial radio. It’s safe to say that, within this format, the sole job of the crowd of hosts is to annoy you into wakefulness in the place of a blaring buzzer, and to keep you that way in the car on the way to work.
To some extent the blame must be shouldered by the Working Dog productions team and their enormously popular Channel 10 (Australia) TV show The Panel, a weekly round-up of current affairs where the premise was that a regular team of affable alpha people, all with comic or writerly credentials, sat there chewing the unscripted, knockabout fat. Often the gags were hilarious. Trouble is, when they weren’t, the laughter continued in an unabated flow of self-congratulation (or perhaps nerves) that left the viewer in the cold.
When transferred to radio this ‘pack of comics’ concept becomes intolerable. At best, it’s a scrabble of unidentified voices jostling for precedence, at worst it’s an unwelcome display of bruised egos and palpable hostility verging on workplace bullying. And there’s a formula – the strained laughter and dilution of personality seems to be directly proportional to the number of folk vying for a sound bite. It’s embarrassing to listen to.
Never was there a more apt moniker for the now defunct group of five clashing egos as the Austereo Network’s The Cage, broadcast in Brisbane and Melbourne. Forced conflict – not to mention forced laughter – and inane patter were the order of the day. At that time of the morning, who needs it?
And it’s striking how the men in these microcosms of the workplace dominate – by sheer force, not of wit, but of boorishness. Women are often forced to act as placeholders, playing it straight, or more often, playing it dumb. And time and again when ratings wane, the women on the team are blamed – when Sydney’s 2 Day FM breakfast show was altered, Peter Helliar was the last man standing in a team that included the abundantly funny and smart Judith Lucy and Kaz Cooke.
When Myf Warhurst decided to leave Triple J (where she had recently joined the breakfast team of Jay and the Doctor) and move back to Melbourne to take up a post with the Austereo Network, a Facebook group sprang up deriding her for selling out. But who can blame her for wanting to be one half of a comfortable duo, for craving the space to develop a relationship with her audience, however commercial, rather than playing odd girl out in an established gang – a gang that mocked her mercilessly for the heinous crime (on youth radio, at least) of forgetting the name of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Comments on Marieke Hardy’s popular blog have made mention of the strained dynamic between the new Triple J breakfast team. She has a strong internet following, a ready wit and an iron constitution, and in the few weeks she has been on air has managed to hold her own in the face of her competitive and at times humourless co-hosts. But we’re not getting the best of her as a breakfast host.
About the writer: Susanna Nelson is a trades journalist by day and a freelance pop analyst after dark.
© Susanna Nelson 2008
Comments
I agree with said article. Having a brain and a vagina prove to have difficulty co-existing in some commercial radio environments. I’m lucky to have full support in my workplace. I’m a comic by trade and I actually think that commerical radio is a lot less sexist than the Austn stand-up industry.
Comment by Mel Sargeant from perth — February 3, 2008 @ 6:01 pm
Just a correction.
Triple J is not a youth orientated network , I flattered as a 40 year old to be still regarded as youth, but this is not so. Closer scrutiny of survey results dating back for years now, reveal the true profile of a 30-40 year old , cafe society listener of the network. Triple J market share with 10-24 year old listeners has been a laughing stock for years,at best the network is an arthouse for experimentation and self indulgence.Either they don’t follow what market research says or there doing the wrong kind.
Not that there isn’t a place for this kind of radio, but it is well covered on the independant community licences all over the country.
The fact that we have a national network unable to qualify by measurable standards (Neilson Ratings) any real position or choice to the youth of Australia is a discrace. Some one should blow the whistle on them.
Comment by Max Collodi from Melbourne — February 3, 2008 @ 6:06 pm
Thanks Susanna - I was almost worried we went a month without hearing a ‘freelance pop analyst’s’ rant about the 4 minutes of radio she’s ‘researched’.
There’s so much false information in this blog I dont know where to begin. For example -I know creative opinion is bound to be different from person to person, so to say certain creative content on a breakfast show (i.e: a certain segment or topic) is good or bad is neither right nor wrong. What I do have an issue with is the false information.
First of all, to say that JJJ targets under 20’s and ‘it tries painfully hard to be ‘down with the kids’ is false. It is - by all charters - a ‘youth’ station, but take more than 5 minutes to actually listen to the station and you’ll find most of their callers are in their late 20’s. Half an hour of programming every weekday is dedicated to Current Affairs with experienced journalists (in drive time of all places). It boasts competitions with world trips and even has a Sunday night toungue in cheek program focussing on religious issues. Is that a station that ‘makes anyone over the age of 20 squirm with discomfort at all the shouty youth references’? Hardly. 2nd wrong piece of info - the age old whinge that Breakfast Radio is male dominated. Another argument that held up 7 or 8 years ago. In melbourne 3 of the major commercial FM stations are Male / Female duos. Well balanced too, I might add. Gone are the days of Male tells joke, Woman laughs, Male plays song’. It simply doesnt work anymore because Australian audiences have said they’ve had enough of that shite - and they said this 10 years ago (see a theme happening here?).
Next - Judith Lucy and Kaz Cooke didnt get the boot because they were the women in the team. Frankly, Im so sick of hearing this argument. They got the boot because the radio stations did audience tests - and the audience said they didnt like them - its that simple. To prove that theory, look at the Radio survey numbers when they were on air compared to now.
This blog may have been relevant 6 or 7 years ago, but things have changed in Australian commercial radio - quite audibly, breakky radio is no longer about ‘male v female’, ‘big cash prizes’ and talking in a deep voice. It’s about relatability, being topical and likeable. It’s just a shame some people who commentate about that very thing have been too busy listening to Radio National and Ani DiFranco CDs to actually realise it.
Comment by Scott from Adelaide, Australia — February 3, 2008 @ 10:34 pm
WHAT?!! JJJ is the one of the very few (PBS included) decent stations!
I grew up in ‘the bush’ and the only other choice was Fox-style 4 songs on rotation, crummy radio. JJJ is amazing not only giving a voice to youth but also country australia. Since then I have adored it for different reasons as I grow older and still shudder to think of the travesty that shutting them down would be. I love the academic type competitions that encourage young people to write, create music or art or journalism. I can’t stand FOR ONE SECOND the hideous cringe-worthy garbage that spews out of commercial radio stations! Ads every 2 seconds, terrible vulgar jokes, bullying, sterotypes and misinformation. And breakfast radio is the worst for this!
Comment by Esther from Melbourne (originally Bendigo in country victoria) — February 3, 2008 @ 10:53 pm
GREAT ARTICLE GREAT JOB!
Comment by JASON ANDREW TOPPIN from Boronia — February 4, 2008 @ 2:45 am
Hmmm… interesting, but you place the blame for the lack of originality on the talent - not where it belongs… on the programmers!! Having worked for two of the biggies (in breakfast radio) for five years - I can tell you the unoriginal “Battle of the Sexes”/celebrity schmaltz is rarely the choice of those on-air.
That falls to the PDs behind the scenes many (not all) of whom are untrained managers and former (read “failed”) on-air presenters - who quietly resent the talent they are given to manage. Most would not get a similar level management position in corporate Australia - because they simply lack the people skills and creativity required.
There’s an old saying in radio… if you’re ratings go up - it’s due to programming and promotions… if they go down - it’s the talent!
Radio is due for a big wake-up and it’s coming - because they can’t keep believing their own press-releases about the health of the industry - you’re right about the incredibly small sample grop that determines ratings (and that system has just been endorsed until 2011 - although there are arguably better systems out there!) - but on the other side of the coin - when you’re on-air you live and die by on the decimal point of those ratings - and they never let you forget it. I salute anyone who continues to work in radio - it is a difficuly, disfunctional multi-million dollar industry that in many ways is still living in the eighties… the game (and the world!) have moved on!
Comment by Troy Swindells-Grose from Melbourne — February 5, 2008 @ 5:05 pm
Scott from Adelaide, I assure you I have taken far more than four minutes of my life to research Triple J. A lot of that time, spent listening to the half hour current affairs show ‘Hack’, to which you refer, is time I will never get back! It is unfortunate you use Hack as an example of Triple J’s breadth - some (not all) of its reports are badly researched and patronising. Flick over to Radio National some time Scott - you might be able to discern the difference… but maybe not.
And I am no fan of Ani diFranco, though I’m guessing that’s your shorthand for ‘90s femmo’. Well, my comments about gender on commercial radio are just as applicable now as they would have been 10 years ago. How I wish that this weren’t so.
You mention that the removal of Lucy and Cooke was dictated by ‘the audience’ - the market. Yes, and this proves my earlier point that market-driven radio often serves up dross. If market-research dictates that funny, smart women are unpopular and shouldn’t be heard on radio, does that make the outcome any less reprehensible?
Obviously I hear the radio with different ears to you - that’s why it’s called an ‘opinion piece’. Remind me to give you the same attitude when you write one.
Esther - I have to agree that it’s by far the best option for young people in regional areas. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t question whether it always does its job.
Troy - I don’t know where you get the idea I don’t hold the programmers responsible. I’ve actually made it quite clear that I don’t blame the hosts at all! They are often talented people caught in ‘the machine’ of cynical programming. That’s the problem.
Comment by Susanna from Melbourne — February 6, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
It’s a rather large stretch to compare JJJ’s breakfast offerings to those of the commercials. And JJJ is certainly not a perfect station - no station is - but as Max mentioned it reaches a much wider demo than than the yoof market. I’m also rather surprised to hear that Working Dog is to some degree responsible for bad commercial breakfast radio. Really? Was commercial radio not all that bad before their TV show came along?
BTW, should you not perhaps disclose your association with PBS radio?
Comment by Megan from Brisbane — February 7, 2008 @ 5:27 am
— PopMatters sponsor —
Listening to radio has had some drawbacks, irate listeners complaining of debates,“That are made up by the program producers. With pressure valves going off.
“It keep the listener intrigue”.
Thats how they sell…
Thats Show business…......
Comment by Farmermick from Melb — February 19, 2008 @ 5:42 am
Thank god the author listens to breakfast radio so I don’t have to find out what’s going on (I’m asleep at that time anyway), in Melbourne at least.
I actually don’t know why people listen to commercial radio at all as surely commercials don’t make for good listening. The author’s theory about being bombarded with stimulus (at any time of the day) may be correct.
Unfortunately the music on JJJ is crap and I don’t like it how the playlist is largely pre-determined either. Saturday and Sunday nights are the only time when the regular music/content music goes out and the new stuff comes in.
Mp3 players and the spirit of sharing has largely eliminated my need to rely on the radio for something to listen to. Digg.com has a good directory of podcast shows (unfortunately 99% American), shows like Penn Radio (half of magician duo Penn and Teller) and The Skeptic’s guide to the Universe gave me a large backlog of something to listen to for months, unfortunately I’ve run out. Thank god Safran is still on the air, JJJ is good for a few things.
While I’m here did anyone happen to catch when The Sandman was teamed up with Robbie Buck in 2001, turns out Robbie Buck plays the character of an affable nice guy but underneath is a fair bit more cynical and ego-driven. I noticed on a recent interview he said that he hasn’t had the opportunity to work with others before (selective memory?).
Comment by Steve from Adelaide — March 4, 2008 @ 12:42 am
Hi there,
I agree with you in parts , like the fact that triple J has some soul searching of its own to do when it considers the kind of songs that it plays in the breakfast show. Then again some of its shows are really good, mostly the talkshows, gives us all something to laugh about. After all, it is always better to wake up in the morning with a laugh than a frown, isn’t it?
Comment by kc shankar — August 4, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
Each to their own I guess, but I think your story is poorly researched and simply full of crap. I don’t know if just made up half the rubbish or you really believe it but clearly you have spent no time listening to triple J. Flogging they do not. Their high rotation play list change daily. They have a large variety of shows that cater for all tastes from blues, to country, to heavy metal, to doof. They regularly have informative and educational pieces and are the only decent option for many rural Australian listeners.
I would expect this kind of a story from someone who does work for PBS and has had friends work there. Maybe you should have included this information in your piece.
I’ve listen to triple J since I was 15 and I am now 30. Yes I said 30, and no I don’t squirm in discomfort and nor do any of my ‘old’ friends who listen to it nor my 32 year old girlfriend. At least it gives me the option to listen to some original and different, Australian and international music instead of the repetitive commercial trash on the more popular stations.
I have at times listened to you beloved PBS, but the music can become so obscure it just doesn’t do it for me.
So get off your PBS high horse and come and listen to a real station that can make a real difference.
Comment by Chris from Melbourne — February 8, 2009 @ 5:38 am